Lone Star Hunting Forum

Well guys I'm back from Canada and would like to share with ya'll my incredible hunt. The pictures are in order of the story.

This was an amazing and somewhat spiritual hunt of my life. This hunt was for and with my Dad. Before he died we talked about me going on a hunt with some of my inheritance. At the time I didn't know what kind of hunt I wanted to do. In more ways than one I felt like Dad was there with me. I thought of him and mom often and wondered how they would have loved the country side. After sitting for 7 hours in a tree stand on the last night of the hunt I was not real optimistic about going home with two bears, but I was alright with it. Doesn't sound like me, does it?

The hunt was top notch and very fruitful. A great camp and plenty of game. The first night Danny and I both shot our first bears. Brian scored on the third night with his first. The fifth night Brain scored again. Night #6 was Danny's turn to tag out with his second bear. The final 7th night with about 10 minutes of shooting light left I thought I was going home with just one bear and then back in the thick timber a branch broke. It all happened so fast. Turn the camera on, grabbed the bow and saw this beautiful blonde bear come into the bait. After the shot I was a total wreck as evident on the film. Yes, I got the shot on film. It was dark when the guides showed up and we started tracking. There wasn't much blood and the guides were afraid it wasn't a kill shot. Something just told me that we would find this bear. About 80 yds. of hands and knees searching I shinned the flash light on a beautiful blonde bear laying dead. At that moment I turn to heaven to thank God and a flood of emotions erupted and Dad was there. My thoughts were that he nourished me with the desire and knowledge to hunt and fish. It was also his money that helped me finance the hunt and just maybe he helped to bring the bear to me in such a special way. I blubbered and cried a little then and back at camp when I told everybody this hunt was for Dad as much as me. It was such a special and blessed feeling that I couldn't help but think he even helped in finding the bear.

With all that said this hunt was for my Dad as much as me.

He wasn't the biggest bear in camp but he became THE BEAR OF THE CAMP.



The blonde phase of the black bear is not a common sight and this one may have a record book head on him. I won't know anything until I get him scored officially.




This is the story I’ve sent out to my family and friends that knew and loved my Mom and Dad. Hope you enjoy…………

Awesome hunt/story, I know your Dad is proud......now....where's the video?!?!?!?!??!

Gulp sniff ----- sniff
What a story GRM. I'm proud for ya'll. That is a good looking blond phase bear.

Awesome, thanks for sharing the story and the pics. Congrats on your hunt.

Congrats and Thanks for posting the pics and sharing the story. I hope you can post pics when the taxi work is done.

Awesome story congrats!! I think I got something in my eye....

Thanks guys for the kind words.
Slim, I'll try and post the video as soon as I can get my camera cables back from Dallas. We left our bow cases with a friend at DFW because American Airlines was going to charge us $150 plus over weight charges. None of the other airlines were even close to that much. Hopefully this weekend they will be here. The video is a little dark but the bear is visible and the lighted nock on the arrow looks like a laser from the movie Predator. A good part of the video is after the shot watching me try to text the guide. The adrenaline was definitely flowing through me.
A week before the hunt I was practicing at dark out of my tower blind. That shows that practice, practice, practice really pays off.

Here's some more pics.......

Bait/camera


Skeeters were bad....


Happy hunter/exit wound courtesy of the 3 blade Rage


Tailgate bear


Heart shape blaze

Cool pics! I would like to see the video also.

Too cool. Do many of them have a heart shape like that.

Helomech, I really don't know how many will have the heart shape but I've seen pictures of bears with triangle shape and the black one I shot just had two white stripes. One of the other bears in camp had kinda a kidney shape.
Also just to let ya'll know after cleaning the skull he didn't make the Pope & Young 18" mark. He had 17 1/8". That measurement is the length of the skull plus the width. Still a trophy to me though.

[Still a trophy to me though]

Yes sir by all means

Yes it is a trophy, especially with the story behind it.

Here are some pics. The guide cleaned the small one in camp but didn't have time to do the big one so we rolled it up in the hide and I cleaned it here at home.

Wow, that could hurt.

Skulls look good GRM.

Are ya'll having rugs made?

What did you use on the skull? They both look good!

It's called Brentwood Salon Care 40 Volume Crème Developer. I think Brentwood is only the company name. I think any Salon grade 40 Volume Crème Developer will do fine. I got it from a friend that said he got it from a beauty supply store. It's what they use on hair bleaching, I think. Be careful with it because it will burn and bleach your fingers white. Believe me I know. I had white finger tips for a couple of days. I used a small paint brush and generously applied inside and out. Put it in the sun for a day or two and repeat one more time. I learned from one of the Canadian guides to use a little liquid dish washing soap in the boiling to help degrease and get the smell out of the skull. It worked pretty well on the smell. My wife will let me bring it in the house.
Txpapa, Danny and Brian are have a shoulder mount and rug each on their bears. I'm having a rug done on my black bear and a full body mount on my blonde. The hides are @ the tannery as we speak. Yahoo!!!